Stories From Above
by Wintermanv3
Summary: A group of old Rangers gather around a small campfire in the metro tunnels during their shift to swap stories of the dangers of the new world that they have encountered. A series of one shots.


**Hello everyone! Here's another Fan Fic, this time set in one of my favorite series: Metro 2033. This piece, though, will not feature Artyom or any of the other characters seen in the Metro series. So I don't think there is anything else to mention, besides the fact I don't know how long this series will be, and this first chapter will just be set up to the first story, besides that I hope you enjoy!**

**Stories from Above**

"Ugh I hate the south tunnel shift" complained Gregor as he walked in the darkness with Aleks. Aleks just chuckled and kept walking by Gregors' side. The sound of their footsteps echoed loudly down the metro tunnels, alerting the two rangers sitting at a fire further down at the south tunnel post.

"It's about time they got here" mumbled one of the two rangers.

"Yeah, do you think Aleks remembered to bring the mushroom tea, Dmitri?" asked the other ranger as he put another log on the fire.

"Well he better have, I'm too old to be sitting in this freezing tunnel without something warm to drink" said Dmitri as he impatiently waited for the others to join.

Gregor and Aleks arrived to the fire, giving a nod of hello and sitting down opposite Dmitri and the other ranger. Aleks put a kettle on the fire, and as they waited for the water to boil the soldiers sat in silence. Gregor busied himself with cleaning his AK, Aleks watched the tea on the fire, the other ranger stared at the shadows in the tunnel, and Dmitri was busy in his thoughts.

Finally the tea was ready, and Aleks passed out steaming cups to everyone. They were all about to continue sitting in silence, when a loud crack from down the tunnel caught their attention. The ranger that was with Dmitri instantly got up, aiming down his AK's sights. The others just gave him a funny look.

"What? You all heard that right?" he said still aiming down the tunnel.

"Ha-ha Mikhail sit down, you're just embarrassing yourself" said Dmitri returning to his cup of tea.

Mikhail slowly sat back down, his face turning red as the others laughed at him. Aleks poured himself another cup of tea and looked up at Mikhail.

"First time in the south tunnel eh?" asked Aleks.

"Yeah, I was just recruited the other day so this is my first post" he said looking down at his boots.

"Ah, a fresh one. Don't get many of those now a days, everyone is too afraid to do something now," Said Gregor.

"Well it's not like they don't want to help, but from the shit that everyone tells them, it's surprising that we even have new recruits" said Dmitri.

Aleks took a long drink from his cup and placed it on the ground next to him. He leaned back a bit, and scratched his chin.

"Aleks? Something on your mind?" asked Dmitri.

"Yeah, I was just remembering when I was a recruit. Could have sworn that someone told me the same thing on my first day too" said Aleks as he continued thinking. "That was probably the longest day of my life, a lot of shit happened"

"Psh, I bet it was easy compared to some of the things I had to do over my career with the rangers," said Gregor as he finished cleaning his AK. "Hell they even gave me a medal. It was a shitty little piece of scrap metal, but it was still a medal"

"Oh shut it Gregor, you're always going on and on about that medal you have. Yet you never want to share exactly how you got it" grunted Dmitri as he filled his cup.

Gregors face fell, and he stared at the roaring fire. He gripped his gun tighter as the shadows from the flames danced across his face.

"Well, I'd rather not talk about it right now" he said quietly.

The others went quiet and looked into the fire as well, every one of them remembering something that had happened to them over the years in their service. Finally Mikhail looked up at all the senior rangers gathered around the fire and got ready to ask them something that he knew would be hard for them.

"Hey, can you guys tell me what to expect out there? Or at least what you guys have seen?" he asked cautiously.

The other rangers looked at each other, expecting someone else to talk first. Gregor looked back at his AK, the only companion that had remained at his side through every mission he had gone on. Dmitri took out his lucky knife, tracing the sharp edge with a finger as he remembered how it had saved his life numerous times. Aleks reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a bullet shaped lighter. He flicked it open and watched as the little flamed danced at the wick. He was the first to snap out of the memories and he looked Mikhail right in the eyes.

"Sure. I'll tell you a bit about what to expect. The best way I can tell you though, is by sharing my own experience." He paused. "Funny, I never expected it be hard to share what had happened many years ago. You would think time would make it easier to deal with, but no. It only helps remind you of how bad things can get."

Mikhail nodded and leaned forward, eager to hear what Aleks was going to share. The others had snapped out of their memories and looked at Aleks, knowing what he was going to most likely share. Aleks lit the lighter again and stared back at the tiny flame.

"It was a long time ago Mikhail, I bet you were barely three at the time. I had been with the rangers for about a month or so, and things weren't going too bad. I had dealt with some nasty mutants, but that was nothing too bad. What I didn't expect though, was that on the surface there were things much worse."

He flicked the lighter close as his mind left the campfire and the tunnel, and returned to right when he was taking his first steps into sunlight.

**Ok and that is the first chapter. The next one will be really good, and will all be focused on Aleks' journey to the surface, a certain building filled with monsters, and how he had gotten that bullet lighter. I really hope you guys liked this chapter and that you will stay around for the next one. So please leave some reviews, they will help make the next chapter come faster! See ya next time! **


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